February 22, 2011

How Old Are You Really?

Photo by Ariel da Silva Parreira   Mexico

Just after I turned 40 in 2001 I lost my dear father to a massive stroke. Now at age 50 I am helping to take care of my Mom this week who had a fall and is having her first turn at being a patient at age 89. She is being mighty patient I must say and doing remarkably well. I realize it could have been so much worse. Still, it isn't easy to heal broken bones at such a ripe old age, especially in the middle of a long hard winter such as this. She's making the best of it though and I know that this is partly due to the fact that she has taken good care of herself all these years and had been doing Tai Chi regularly before she was injured.

I thought today I'd infuse the house with the wonderful aromas of a pot roast and make some pumpkin raisin muffins (a.k.a. Better Than Sex Muffins) which we'll all love. Last night we finally watched The Secret Life of Bees. I read the book a few months ago and the movie was very good too. It was well acted, full of the gorgeous colors and textures of a southern summer in the early 1960s, and the bitter sweet message that sometimes we have to leave home in order to find it. Wish I'd seen it in the theatre on a big screen.

Yesterday we all got to talking about my favorite guy Dr .Oz and his free online test called Real Age.  If you haven't taken it yet you might like to as it's very interesting because it makes a calculation of your real age ( I am 43).  It also points to how quickly & easily we can improve our health by making just a few adjustments. I keep thinking especially how much harder old age must be for those who are carrying around extra weight. Kind of like a bad combination of being pregnant and elderly at the same time if you know what I mean.

Anyway, if you take the Real Age test be sure to read their list of recommenations under your Real Age score which all pertain to the answers you provide.

In closing today I leave you with this lovely quote:

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. 

~Samuel Ullman